The lawsuit over SG Wannabe and SeeYa’s music profit went to the Supreme Court due to the production company’s appeal
The Seoul High Court’s Civil Affairs Division 5 announced on November 9th that they had rejected the appeal of the damage lawsuit filed by PocketDol Studio’s CEO and executive producer Kim Kwang-soo against the distribution company DANAL. Earlier at the first trial on April 21st, the Seoul Central District Court’s Civil Affair Division 62 ruled against the plaintiff, saying “The plaintiff’s claims are dismissed, and the plaintiff must bear the cost of the lawsuit”.
In response, CEO Kim Kwang-soo filed an appeal against the sentence. After that, he opposed the result of the second trial and submitted another appeal on November 15th.
In August 2020, CEO Kim Kwang-soo filed a lawsuit against DANAL, demanding the return of unfair revenue of around 2 billion won. The CEO claimed that he had not received proper settlements of profits generated from SG Wannabe’s 3rd and 4th albums as well as SeeYa’s 1st and 2nd albums from the music distribution company DANAL. What drew keen attention is that the amount specified in the lawsuit was 20 billion won, there were claims suggesting that the unsettled profits with several estimates being added, the amount of unsettled music revenue could amount to as much as 50 billion won.
After both sides’ documents were delivered to the court, there were speculations that the two sides would reach an agreement through the mediation committee’s decision. However, no agreement could be reached through mediation in the end.
Regarding the purpose of his claim, CEO Kim Kwang-soo said, “I directed the production planning of each album, recruited songwriters and lyricists, managed the recording process and editing, etc. I covered all the costs incurred in the process so I have the right to be credited as a record producer”, adding “DANAL violated the neighboring rights by distributing the music source without permission. As a result, DANAL received more than 2 billion won in music sales and I suffered corresponding damages.”
However, the court stated, “It is difficult to consider the plaintiff as an album producer because there is no evidence to support this view. We acknowledged that the plaintiff has received various awards as an album producer, it is challenging to presume them solely as the holder of neighboring rights based on these facts alone. The current copyright law defines an album producer as the person who ‘comprehensively plans and takes responsibility for the initial production of the album’.” The court pointed out that the plaintiff signed individual contracts with the singers and an exclusive distribution contract with Company A, in which the plaintiff was the largest shareholder.
SG Wannabe met with Yoo Jae-seok, who planned the MSG project in MBC’s “Hangout with Yoo” broadcast on April 17th, and gathered as a whole group for the first time after three years. They revealed various stories and presented a stage to fans after a while. The group sang hit songs, such as “Lalala”, “Partner for Life”, “As I Live”, “Arirang”, “Timeless”, etc., and proved their popularity.
Source: Daum
